Last week in Gdynia, Poland, the Junior World Championship of the three Olympic speed disciplines 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 came to an end. Two teams were sailing for Switzerland, the 49er team with Joshua Richner (GYC) and Nilo Schärer (TYC) and the 49erFX team with Sophie Mosegaard and Fiona Schärer (TYC).
The conditions in Gdynia were difficult during the 5-day regatta, truly characterized by what Gdynia is known for, namely a steep short wave, which made the life of the sailors difficult. In addition, there were varied winds coming practically every day from a different direction.
In the end it was Poland and Italy who secure dominant victories in men's and women's Junior Worlds. Mikolaj Staniul with Jakub Sztroch (POL) capped a wire-to-wire Junior Worlds Title by winning the final four races in a row. The 27-point margin of victory is the largest ever for a Junior World Championship. They had the advantage of racing on home waters and took it with a scorelines void of any finishes outside the top 10.
Despite the difficult conditions, Joshua and Nilo managed to sail consistently with 12 races within the top 10 in the total of 15 races. With this performance, the Richner/Schärer duo was able to win the 7th place overall and the vice world championship title in the U21 classification.